Pioneer DDJ-RX professional 4-channel controller for rekordbox DJ

Product Information

Can you really hear the difference in sound quality of analog vinyl record being played on SL1200 and fed to: All my music is in MP3s (therefore I need ‘digital DJ’ in one form or the other i.e. laptop dependent controller djing/DVS/all in one laptop free unit) but I also will start buying vinyl records and increase this slowly with time Does the screen on this XDJ-RX resemble in any way the screen on XDJ-1000/CDJ-2000nxs ? I mean not quality wise but in terms of layout and graphics? I guess my question here is if the screens on these ‘players’ use the same OS. I just would like to know that if I am used to DJ on this and then go to a club where they have CDJ2000nxs (rekordbox compatible) if I feel 100% at home after plugging USB in terms of visual arrangement/system of the screen’s player Be able to use DVS to control my MP3s on the laptop/screen built into DJ controller (while I slowly build my vinyl records library) I already have a very powerful laptop (rMBP 15”) so I am not counting this cost at all – it’s there already

On paper at least, the XDJ-RX is the first controller from Pioneer that has convincing answers to some of the big shortcomings people roll out when it comes to software DJing – and I’m not referring to the detractors who won’t give it a go, but those of us who’ve done it for years and still see things about it that aren’t perfect. Basically what you have here is two CDJs minus the CD slots and a two-channel Pioneer mixer, so the set-up is very reminiscent of any Pioneer DJ booth set-up you can think of. That said, the XDJ-RX has the biggest nod towards DJ controllers yet from any Rekordbox gear (notably the performance “pads” underneath the DDJ-SX-style jogwheels, and of course that big screen). Now with the XDJ-RX, for the first time it’s possible to see how a beginner DJ could buy this as their first controller, learning how to DJ on it the “Pioneer” way, and so theoretically carry those skills right across into the pro DJ booth when ready with a minimal learning curve to adjust to. Since one of the issues people have with software / controller DJing is “but the club I want to play in has CDJs, and I don’t know how to use them!”, this could turn out to be significant.

In addition to algorithms lifted from Pioneer’s legendary DJM mixer range the DDJ-RX boasts Pad FX (enabling users to chain FX using all 16 velocity sensitive pads), sound colour FX and the all new sequencer. If you can’t get your head around the jog-less rigidity of Native Instruments’ S8 & S5 then this strikes a good balance between the “real” feel of DJing with CDJs, combined with the most useful (and fun) functions of controllerism. Let’s look a little more closely at the mixer section. It’s only two channel, and has a library browse knob and buttons in the middle as DJ controllers do, but otherwise as stated above it looks, feels and acts like any pro Pioneer mixer. By pressing and holding the Menu button under the screen, you can access the system preferences, which contain a lot of choices, of which I’m going to highlight a few here. And another final point, trying to be really clever last year, I got a thunderbolt drive by La Cie, these DO NOT work with Rekordbox. They mount to the computer in a different way than USB and so their mount point changes, meaning your playlists will disappear or lose their path. Worth more trouble and really no need to have that kind of speed for audio, now I use it for VJing and Serato

Rekordbox DJhas arrived; the new software released by Pioneer DJ is just what Rekordbox users have been waiting for. Rekordbox DJ uses one library so a set can be prepped and played straight from a laptop and used with a controller or export the same library to a USB device ready to use on the industry standard CDJ-2000 Nexus players. A couple we’ve already mentioned: There’s the vinyl speed behaviour (you can have the vinyl slow down / start up knob affect either of those features or both by setting your choice here), and I’ve also spoken of the line fader curve setting here, which is a nice touch.

The Pioneer DDJ-RX is the finest example of hardware–for-software engineering out there. Pioneer has designed the DDJ-RX controller to visually unite with rekordbox software through colour co-ordination. The colour coding on mac and PC screens immediately match with that of the pads, knobs and buttons of the RX controller, creating intuitive, stress free play. Personally I needed a larger scope and already had an investment in Traktor / Laptop. So S8 made more sense for me. 1 week in and still finding features, functionalities and quirks 😉 XDJ-RX with a pair or 1200s – this will give me standalone unit in rekordbox ecosystem (great to get used to Pioneer’s club standard DJM/CDJ system) and also standalone mixer for playing analog vinyls when I want to. I am not sure about DVS and Serato DJ (digital DJing) compatibility with this. To create a playlist on to a drive you would first make it in the Rekordbox software, then “Sync” that playlist to the drive. They can be the same drive, but you would be duplicating your files.